Via@ - international interdisciplinary review of tourism
Cartagena (Spain). “Discovering the past in order to build the
future through memory and tourism”
Francisco J. Morales Yago & Antonio Zárate Martín
Cartagena: Overview of the old town and its tourism-led renewal © Antonio Zárate
mine closures and the shipyards losing business, led
to a period of decadence for the city, manifesting
itself in high unemployment rates and the
abandonment and deterioration of many buildings.
This period also saw the emptying of the city’s
historic centre, the aging of its population and a
massive influx of people with little purchasing
power and foreign immigrants.
The city of Cartagena is located in south-east Spain
on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and, ever
since its foundation in the 3rd century BC, two key
threads have run right through its extensive history.
The first of these is its use as a military base,
drawing on the magnificent strategic advantages it
offers, which include its natural deep water harbour
and the topography of the surrounding area. The
latter is made up of the so-called cinco cerros, five
hills which form a very significant natural barrier to
possible invaders from the interior, making this
location much easier to defend. From the 18th
century onwards, Cartagena has been a naval base
and the headquarters in the Mediterranean for the
Spanish navy, and also the location for one of its
most important shipyards.
As industrial and military activity decreased in the
1980s, the city’s economy began to change. The
recovery began through the establishment of new
economic activities via the strengthening of service
offerings, such as the expansion of the polytechnic
university, the establishment of the parliament of
the Region of Murcia and the building of shopping
developments, but also something which had not
been considered before: tourism. This was based on
the city’s history and the search for the physical
evidence of a past full of significant events. These
changes were largely the result of an urban
regeneration plan whose main objective was to
demolish old structures in the city centre in order to
uncover the remains of buildings from the
Carthaginian, Roman and Byzantine periods. Due
attention was also paid to the historic bastions of
the walls which surrounded the bay and the arsenal
The second thread is its involvement in industry
from ancient times onwards, with mining being
undertaken in the Carthaginian and Roman periods,
most notably for silver, and with its hinterland
comprising of fertile farmland. Shipbuilding, mining,
and the arrival of chemical and petrochemical
companies in the region made it a key industrial
centre in the 1960s, with the late 1970s seeing
decline set in. The partial dismantling of this
industry in the following decade, together with
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Via@ - international interdisciplinary review of tourism
was opened to visitors. All of this can be seen in the
first photograph.
Until the beginning of the 21st century, a large part
of Cartagena’s old town continued to be a decaying
and deprived area and, with it being closely
associated with drugs, prostitution, crime and low
social standing, most city residents thought it a
place best avoided. The area began to change for
the better after the discovery in 1988 of the Roman
theatre and its subsequent restoration by means of
various archaeological digs. After more than two
decades, the result of this effort to restore the city’s
heritage and regenerate the city itself has been the
establishment of a different kind of urban area to
that which was known before, with it now being
held to be of enormous cultural and scenic value.
Moreover, while this urban renewal has led to the
uncovering
of hidden historical heritage of
exceptional value (for example, the Roman theatre
and basilica in the foreground of the photograph),
from a functional point of view the consequence
has been to transform an industrial and military city
into a city offering services and which is attractive
to tourists, leading to the creation of new jobs, the
building of shopping and leisure developments, the
rehabilitation of homes, a gentrification process and
the opening of a museum which showcases the
objects found during the archaeological digs.
Santa María Basilica - © Antonio Zárate
The combination of its privileged natural location, in
a sheltered bay surrounded by mountains, the
shipyards, the 18th century arsenal, the legacy of
buildings from different eras, and, especially, the
uncovering of the rich heritage which has been
partially hidden for centuries under the city has led
to ever increasing levels of cultural tourism
(257,256 visitors in 2011, of whom the majority,
207,120 or 80.51%, were Spanish and the rest,
19.49%, foreign tourists). Yet the most significant
thing is that Cartagena has become a model of
exceptional urban regeneration, by means of the
restoration of its most ancient historic heritage and
through tourism. Thus, tourism has acted as the
motor for urban transformation, the restoration of
the cultural surroundings and the development of
the local economy, something which few would
have thought possible not so long ago.
The look of the old historic centre is much different
from that of two decades ago. Now, one can see
part of the old Roman forum, although this has not
been completely restored because of the high costs
in terms of both money and time that this would
require. In a relatively small space, once can see:
Roman buildings; the Gothic 13th century Santa
María basilica; ancient homes bearing the arms of
noble families; the modernista town hall building
built in 1907; museums, such as that of Roman art
next to the theatre; and the Muralla del Mar (the
sea walls), whose construction was ordered by King
Carlos III. Another place of interest is the national
museum of underwater archaeology, which was
opened in 2008 on the Paseo Alfonso XII, housed in
an ultra-modern building which contrasts with the
classical image of the city and its harbour.
When walking around Cartagena, we can take our
minds back to a past which archaeology has
revealed. Yet to the undoubted visitor appeal of
these buildings, we can also add the opening up to
visitors of the arsenal and the old bastions. There
are other facets of local heritage to enjoy, such as
the Easter processions and the re-enactments of
the battles between the Carthaginians and the
Romans, in which the city’s inhabitants participate
and which attract ever more tourists and visitors.
Both festivals have been granted “official tourist
attraction status”, with the Easter processions of
“international interest” and the re-enactments of
“national interest”.
TO CITE THIS ARTICLE
Electronic reference:
Francisco J. Morales Yago y Antonio Zárate Martín, Cartagena (Spain). “Discovering the past in order to build
the future through memory and tourism”, Via@, News in brief, posted on 8th July, 2013.
URL : http://www.viatourismreview.net/Breve5_EN.php
News in brief – July 2013
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Via@ - international interdisciplinary review of tourism
AUTHORS
Francisco J. Morales Yago & Antonio Zárate Martín
“CULTURPAIS” research group: http:/www.uned.es/culturpaisgrupo
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
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